LUCHIZMA (A trully bizarre Soviet science fiction experience)

Written from 2023:

I finished writing the story at the start of 2022, just a few months before the day when the tragedy happens. What happened is horrible. No one should have gone through such a horrendous war that brings nothing but blood and tears.

That makes me reflect on how powerless I am as a normal individual, and this could easily happen to any of us. It has been tough years. Let's hope for peace and cherish those who are still among us. Let us help each other. Let us be cautious about the bias, discrimination, propaganda, or malice deliberately planted by those who feast on our weakness, and maybe one day, never let those divide us again.

This is a beautiful planet we are on. It has a great history and a beautiful legacy built by human civilization. It's only reasonable for people to care for and help their own kind. Take care.

Project: LUCHIZMA

LUCHIZMA is a project I developed inspired by Stalker (Russian: Сталкер) a 1979 Soviet science fiction art film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky with a screenplay written by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, loosely based on their 1972 novel Roadside Picnic. It discussed a wide range of topics including alien existence, consciousness, fear of the unknown, fear of self, existence, and life itself.

"Humans, when they enter life, are soft and weak. When they die they are hard and strong."

The architecture and map are designed to be compatible with first/third shooter game. Level design is heavily inspired by the Olympus map released in Season 7 Apex Legend.

Story

During the Cold War, the Soviet authorities established an advanced city near the north of Vladivostok to test new policies. Soon after, large-scale meteorite swarms landed on the outskirts of the area. The authorities soon discovered the physical topography and time flow rate here have become extremely abnormal. They sealed off the area and later discovered that there were several singularities caused by four-dimensional space debris in the area. These singularities not only distort space and time but also affect the minds of people within.

The authorities renamed this area Лучизм (Rayonism, pronounced Luchizma) after witnessing the distorted yet gorgeous shimmers flowing everywhere.

While feeling that national security is threatened by this phenomenon, the Soviet authorities also saw its potential power: the four-dimensional space accelerates the growth of crops, and it could also hide the base in places where satellites and detectors cannot find it. Some soldiers were sent to the area to assist researchers while protecting them from unknown dangers.

Environment Design Concepts

Envrionment Prop Design

B/W Vis Dev

Director: Hao Ding
Actor: Carl Blendermir
Cinematographer: Adobe Photoshopsky

Act I: The Rookie

Rookie Soldier Carl received the mission of his first shift: Escort a scientist from the City Hall to the nearest experimental agricultural field.

Act II: Everything Shimmers

Carl discovered that the scientist has already gone from the City Hall, while things are extremely abnormal in the environment he was in. He decided to depart to the experiment agricultural field to check if she was there.

Act III: Stars, Everywhere

He saw stars through the portal. And on the wild cornfield afar, a rocket slowly rose as dawn loomed with the mesmerizing light tilting everything.

Early Explorations and Refs